Some 3,000 members of the 204th Vukovar Brigade, led by their war-time commander Mile Dedakovic, fell into ranks at the town stadium.
The ceremony was attended, among others, by President Stjepan Mesic, Parliament Speaker Vladimir Seks and Deputy Prime Minister Jadranka Kosor. Before the ceremony, they laid wreaths and lit candles at the monument to victims killed on the Ovcara farm outside Vukovar and at the Homeland War Victims' Memorial Cemetery in tribute to Croatian soldiers and civilians killed in the defence of Vukovar.
Delegations of the 204th Vukovar Brigade and the town and county authorities laid wreaths and lit candles as well.
The brigade's first commander, Mile Dedakovic, said at the ceremony that on 25 September 1991, when it was established, the brigade had had 1,803 members, while some 3,600 soldiers had gone through its ranks.
"We destroyed around 400 tanks and armoured vehicles, 25 jets and helicopters and put out of action some 15,000 enemy soldiers," Dedakovic said, adding that 921 members of the 204th Vukovar Brigade had been killed, 770 wounded, and 1,527 had gone through Serb-run concentration camps.
Congratulating the brigade on the anniversary, President Mesic said that the battle of Vukovar had shown that a nation could not be beaten in the struggle for its freedom.
"We remember with pride Croatia's struggle for independence, but we also know that today, 15 years after that struggle, we want to share democratic processes with united Europe," Mesic said, underlining the importance of dealing with economic problems and crime and corruption as Croatia was drawing closer to the European Union and NATO.
Sabor Speaker Seks recalled that on 8 October 1991 the Sabor decided that an act of aggression had been launched against Croatia and declared the former Yugoslav People's Army an aggressive and occupying force.
"It was on the Vukovar battlefield that the Serbian aggression on Croatia was defeated. Vukovar did not fall, it won," Seks said, adding that the resistance of Vukovar forces that lasted several months had helped Croatia prepare for resistance in other areas affected by the aggression.
The government delegation at the ceremony also included Defence Minister Berislav Roncevic and Interior Minister Ivica Kirin. Present was also the Armed Forces' Chief-of-Staff, General Josip Lucic. The last commander of the 204th Vukovar Brigade, Branko Borkovic, did not attend.
After the speech, President Mesic presented Dedakovic with the Order of Nikola Subic Zrinski and the Order of Prince Domagoj which he bestowed on the 204th Brigade.
Sabor Speaker Vladimir Seks presented the brigade with commemorative medallions bestowed by the parliament on Vukovar's defence forces and the families of Croatian soldiers killed or gone missing in the war.
After the ceremony at the town stadium, members of the 204th Vukovar Brigade marched through the streets of Vukovar to the central town square, where Djakovo and Srijem Bishop Marin Srakic conducted Mass for soldiers and civilians killed in the defence of Vukovar.
This was the second time the 204th Vukovar Brigade marked its anniversary. Its status was officially defined and misunderstandings regarding its status and that of its members cleared up last year.
The brigade lined up for the first time in 2001, for its tenth anniversary. That ceremony was organised by the Association of Croatian Homeland War Volunteers and the government.
The organisers of today's event were the brigade's commanders, Mile Dedakovic and Branko Borkovic, the Vukovar town authorities and the state leadership.
Asked by reporters to comment on a remark by a soldier attending today's ceremony, who asked him why Dedakovic had not been promoted to the rank of general, Mesic said that he regretted the fact that Dedakovic was not a general, but that under the Law on Defence only active military officers could be promoted.
Asked why today's ceremony was not attended by the brigade's last commander, Branko Borkovic, Dedakovic said that Borkovic had previous engagements.
He added that there was no misunderstanding between him and Borkovic, as claimed by some newspapers.
"We are in touch and are good friends," Dedakovic said.